With no Democratic opposition in the general election Parks White will start duties in January

The Republican nominee for district attorney in several northeast Georgia counties says he intends to get right down to business streamlining offices and cleaning out a backlog of cases.

Parks White won the GOP primary for the Northern Judicial Circuit district attorney post this week by more than 1,800 votes over the longtime incumbent, Bob Lavender.

White faces no opposition from the Democratic Party in the Nov. 6 general election, and no write-in candidates have stepped forward.

Reached after the primary, White thanked those who supported him.

"The campaign was all volunteer, and I can't thank the people of the circuit enough having the confidence in me with their votes," White said. "I'm looking forward to serving them. I'm looking forward to making our communities safer. I'm looking forward to restoring a sense of swift justice."

White said one of the first things he wants to do is simple: adding voice mail to the phone of each assistant district attorney in the five counties making up the Northern Judicial Circuit.

He said four of the assistant district attorneys have no way to receive phone messages.

"That's just amazing to me that a defense attorney, a victim, a witness, a court member can't get a return phone call from the district attorney," White said. "I'm going to go myself and purchase and install five answering machines, one in each office, to make sure people don't have to wait years for a return phone call."

At that point, White said, he will get to work on the backlog of cases.

He said he will streamline the intake system, making sure cases are indicted rather than sitting in the "pre-indictment" and "warrant" phase for years.

He said the district attorney's office will provide a case's evidence within a couple of weeks of a defendant's arraignment and communicate with defense attorneys within two days regarding that material.

"The plan is shaping up, and we're ready to make things better," he said.

Besides his duties as an assistant district attorney in Augusta, White is a lieutenant in the Navy, serving as an attorney in the Judge Advocate General's Corps. He has served in Iraq with a law and order task force.

The new district attorney will start his new term in January.

The final tally in Tuesday's GOP primary was 9,952 votes for White to Lavender's 8,142.

White secured 55 percent of the votes, including majorities in four of the circuit's counties.